The Pair of Them
by Rise Openly
Summary: It was amazing Kakashi showed any sign at all of the agility and skill needed to be a shinobi. Sakumo never let his little feet touch the ground.


**A/N:** Just some Sakumo and Kakashi fluffiness for your entertainment. I'm not sure how many of these little one shots will be spawned; I just wanted to use the summary, to be honest.

**Legalities:** _Naruto_ is (c) Masashi Kishimoto.

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><p><strong>The Pair of Them : Newborn<strong>

_The thing about having a baby is that thereafter, you have it._

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><p>It was September 22nd and Hatake Kakashi was exactly one week old.<p>

His father Sakumo held the boy as if he were made of glass, his small body across the length of his arm from wrist to elbow with little sock feet not quite reaching the crook of his arm. He wasn't sure how he felt yet about the fact Kakashi's entire head – and most of his small shoulders – fit inside the palm of his hand. As the older Hatake held the younger, he fought down the rising panic in his chest.

He couldn't do this alone.

He _needed _Tsubame.

He couldn't take care of their baby, _their son_, without her.

But that was just how it would have to be, Sakumo knew. The father gazed upon his son with no small amount of uncertainty, his dark eyes drawn to where Kakashi's miniscule fist clung tightly around his thumb. Whereas Kakashi's whole being fit neatly in his father's hand, Kakashi's palm was no bigger than Sakumo's thumbnail.

He was so tiny.

Was it normal for a baby to be so small?

Sakumo's experience with children as young as his newborn son was very limited if not nonexistent. He himself had been the youngest of a pair of brothers once upon a time and none of his friends had slowed down enough yet to have children of their own. The life of a shinobi often pushed the prospect of parenthood and child-rearing to the back burner. He himself had not even contemplated becoming a father or even a husband until quite suddenly Tsubame was already pregnant and there was no time for discussion. He had even spent several months of the pregnancy in denial that Kakashi was his child, though the fact was now somewhat indisputable. He ran his thumb gently across the baby's temple and into the soft tufts of silvery hair above the shell of Kakashi's small ear.

Sakumo had never seen any baby pictures of himself, but he imagined his son was a very close copy.

Kakashi opened his eyes slowly, his lids puffy still from the fair amount of screaming he had done some hour or so before. The baby existed in continual state of either crying or whimpering or outright wailing unless he was soundly asleep. The pediatric medic at the hospital responsible for Kakashi's health swore it was simply a common condition called cholic and would go away as he grew. Sakumo thought that cholic wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't coupled with the fact Kakashi was an extremely loud infant. At the time of his birth Sakumo had been swept out of the room because of the complications that had ultimately taken Tsubame's life in exchange for Kakashi's, but the boy had been loud enough (or perhaps Sakumo attentive enough) that he heard his son's voice even with the walls between them. Sakumo had then been retrieved by a redheaded medic and fairly drug by his nostrils away from the labor and delivery ward of the hospital to the nursery one floor down where he was instructed to sit and wait. So he had twiddled his thumbs for a spell, took to pacing for a moment, and ultimately plopped himself in a rather uncomfortable rocking chair until the same redhead appeared once more to present him with a bundle of white blankets with a pale blue cap.

A yawn hit the baby's lips, his little pink tongue poking out as the soft, sleepy sound filled the air of the nursery Tsubame had prepared for Kakashi in their home. Sakumo's face softened as he watched the boy's unfocused eyes slide around the room lazily. Currently, his irises were a dark, deep sapphire that would soon be the same gunmetal color of his father's. Sakumo vaguely remembered only a few of the things Tsubame had told him about her baby books. One of the facts happened to be that the baby's eyes didn't work very well yet and that Kakashi couldn't see very far in front of his face. He leaned over his son, examining him and deciding with certainty that Kakashi was as near his clone as any bunshin.

Like clockwork Kakashi began to whimper lightly as he woke, the precursor to crying and screaming and a downright fit if Sakumo guessed correctly. He followed the advice of the redheaded medic who had taught him what she called 'the baby basics' before she personally allowed him to leave the hospital with his son. He patted the boy's bottom, urging him in soft whispers to hush as he had shifted Kakashi closer to him. Normally that would do the trick and he would drift in and out of sleep as he calmed down, leaving Sakumo astounded that his boy already knew his voice. He had spent a lot of time being forced by Tsubame to address their unborn son and feeling utterly ridiculous as he did it. She forced him into it because she had read in another one of her baby books that unborn babies hear what goes on around them.

Since he now knew it was true, Sakumo felt sure Kakashi already knew all his swears.

Kakashi didn't settle down, however, and his semi quiet fussing was slowly gaining momentum. Again Sakumo fought down a panic akin to the type of fear and stress that built in one's chest on a S-class mission. Feeling utterly helpless he watched as Kakashi's previously peaceful face crinkled unhappily, his dark eyes screwing tightly shut as he released a heartbreaking howl.

Sakumo sighed. What could possibly be wrong? He wasn't wet or dirty in his diaper and he had certainly slept enough; that was nearly all he did. Kakashi definitely hungry, either, as the half empty bottle that he simply _couldn't_ be coaxed into finishing was tucked neatly between the outer side of Sakumo's thigh and the frame of the rocker. He was just being fussy again. Cholic. Sakumo despaired a moment more before deciding that Kakashi couldn't whine if his mouth was full and plopping the nipple of the half empty bottle at his side in the boy's mouth.

There was a brief moment where Kakashi seemed to be utterly shocked before accepting the bottle, the sweet suckling sounds that accompanied feeding time replacing his shrill squalls. Sakumo smiled to himself as he remembered the first time trying to get Kakashi to eat before he was released from the hospital. He should have known then and there that they were going to hell in a hand basket. Father and son had fussed back and forth at each other over that first bottle to the complete amusement of the nurses watching the spectacle.

For a baby who had never been breastfed Kakashi certainly didn't appreciate the bottle feeding experience.

Sakumo didn't have to try too hard to understand. He probably would have preferred a tit, too.

But they were making due, the pair of them, which was good because they were stuck with each other for the rest of their lives, however long they may be. The Sandaime had even placed Sakumo on maternity leave which in itself was a little embarrassing, but not entirely unwelcome because Konoha's White Fang would be absolutely lying through his teeth if he said he wasn't enjoying it. He loved Kakashi more than he had previously even thought possible. The joy of his son soothed the loss of his wife, or at least distracted him enough to make life bearable. Pleasant even. And though Sakumo was still certain he needed Tsubame to raise their son, it _had_ been a week and neither he nor Kakashi were dead.

Maybe he could do it on his own.


End file.
